November 21, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



817 



system, no decision was reached, and the 

 question is still unsettled. There is a 

 strong sentiment both in the faculty and in 

 the student body in favor of the honor 

 system. No one wants to see watchers in 

 examinations. But, under the honor sys- 

 tem, no student wants to report cases of 

 cribbing. Thus the cheater's honor in dis- 

 honor rooted stands. A system capable 

 of administration must be devised, yet, if 

 it is to be successful, it must be in harmony 

 with the sentiments of the students. 



At the suggestion of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, 

 the Christmas vacation was extended so 

 as to include the week in which the 1st of 

 January falls, for the purpose of enabling 

 members of the faculty to attend the meet- 

 ings of the scientific and learned societies 

 held at that time. This action is un- 

 doubtedly in the best interests of science 

 and scholarship and highly advantageous 

 to professors. 



The lengthening of the Christmas recess 

 suggests some observations on the amount 

 of vacation now enjoyed by American uni- 

 versities and colleges. It is less, to be sure, 

 than that which obtains in Great Britain. 

 And from the point of view of professors, 

 most of whom devote the summer vacation 

 to investigation and writing, it is too short 

 rather than too long. Furthermore, as it 

 is by means of such self-regenerating 

 studies that the professor maintains his 

 efSeiency as a teacher, a vacation so used is 

 of inestimable advantage to the university. 

 It is probably safe to say that the over- 

 whelming majority of Cornell professors 

 and instructors devote two thirds of their 

 summer vacation to strenuous productive 

 work, while others teach in the summer ses- 

 sion or undertake special duties of a pro- 

 fessional or technical character. 



Nevertheless, the final cause of American 

 colleges and universities is the student. 



His best interests must be the supreme 

 consideration in determining the length of 

 vacations. The Christmas recess being 

 now fixed for the accommodation of scien- 

 tists and scholars, and the spring recess 

 being not much more than a week, it is 

 worth inquiry whether, in the interest of 

 students, the summer vacation should not 

 be shortened. The Cornell summer vaca- 

 tion is about the average, possibly a little 

 shorter. For the members of the instruct- 

 ing staff, as already observed, it is cer- 

 tainly not too long. Nor is it too long for 

 students in law, medicine, engineering, 

 agriculture, etc., who devote the summer 

 months to work in offices, factories, or on 

 farms, which supplements their theoretical 

 studies and familiarizes them with the 

 practical side of their callings. But for 

 students in the academic department who 

 have nothing in particular to do during 

 the summer, the vacation is far too long. 

 Why should young men from eighteen to 

 twenty-two years of age be idle for three 

 months simply because they are students 

 for the other nine? Of course many stu- 

 dents in the academic department do 

 work— perhaps to earn money to procure 

 an education— during the holidays, and at 

 Cornell that class is probably larger than 

 at any other great university in the east. 

 But others are idle, as are also some of the 

 students from the professional and tech- 

 nical departments; and for these the uni- 

 versity should offer work. Yet, as has been 

 shown, it is not to the interest of the uni- 

 versity to demand too much teaching from 

 its professors, else the spirit of research is 

 quenched and the teacher becomes fos- 

 silized. 



But these conflicting demands may be 

 met by a summer session of the academic 

 department (including allied technical 

 subjects) with a faculty especially ap- 

 pointed for the purpose made up of Cor- 



